This blog is inscribed by Aieshwarya Narayanan
Ram Mandir issue is one of the oldest disputes in Indian history. It is a political, historical and socio-religious issue in India. The Ram Mandir issue is also known as the Ayodya dispute case which is located in the city of Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. The issue is regarding the land which was traditionally known as the birthplace of Lord Rama by the Hindus. On the other hand, the history of Babri Masjid is also located in the same sight. The issue is whether the Ayodhya temple of Lord Ram was demolished or modified to build the mosque. There were many legal issues regarding this land dispute and the Supreme Court bench on 9th November 2019 announced their verdict pertaining to the ownership of the land.
History
Ram Mandir:
The land which the Muslims held to be theirs stood as a traditional and historical birthplace of Lord Ram. Lord Ram is considered as the 7th Re-incarnation of god Vishnu. According to Ramayana, Ram was the king of Ayodhya in the Treta Yuga which ended in 3102 B.C[i]. Ramayana chronicles the birth and journey of Ram. Even according to Garuda Purana Ayodhya is considered as a place where Moksha or rebirth can be attained.
Babri Masjid:
Babur was considered as the first and the founder of the Mughal Empire. The now said Babri Masjid is a Mosque built-in 1528 by one of his generals[ii]. After the mosque was built, there were many stories and evidence stating that there were inscriptions on the walls of the mosque which stated that this mosque was built after the destruction of the temple. Also, some local traditions believed that emperor Aurangzeb built the Mosque by destructing the temple in 1658. Another evidence to signify this event is the Baburnama which is the Babur’s Diary in which he would document all his life events does not have any traces of him destructing any temple to build the mosque[iii].
No historical records were stating the presence of a mosque between 1528 to 1668. The earliest record was in the year 1717 when Jai Singh II, purchased the land of the mosque and the surrounding area of the mosque. His documents which chalks about the mosque and its structure resembles the mosque in the current era. For a long period, both the Hindus as well as the Muslims were said to have prayed in the mosque complex such as the Muslims inside the mosque and the Hindus outside the mosque.
In 1857 a British official is said to have laid a fence separating the place of worship for the Hindus and the Muslims in order to prevent any disputes between them. The dispute ignited in the year 1949 when someone anonymously placed the idol of Lord Ram inside the Mosque.[iv]
Legal Proceedings
The Ayodhya dispute judgment was given in the year 2019 but the history has records of events chronologically from 1885. The first case in 1885 was filed by Mahant Raghubar Dass for permission to building a temple outside the mosque[v]. This suit was dismissed and went for further appeal to the district judge where it was again dismissed. After that, for many decades there were no cases regarding the temple or the mosque and was owned by the Muslims. Only in the year 1949 when anonymous people placed the idol of Ram inside the Mosque, the dispute regarding the land arose.
In the year 1950, a devotee named Gopal Singh Visharad filed a case for the right to ownership at the Ram Janma Bhoomi and requested an order against the Muslims owning their place. In the same year, a suit was filed by Ram Chandra Paramahans for a similar issue and this suit was withdrawn in the year 1990.
In the year 1959, a third suit was filed by Nirmohi Akhara which is an institution of Ramanand Vairagis from Ayodhya stating to handover the land to them. For all these years only the Hindus were taking legal actions and only in the year 1961 the Central Sunni Waqf Board filed a case stating that the Mosque was for the public for over 400 years and the premises should be handed over to them. In the late 1980s, the Ram Janmabhoomi movement took place headed by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) supported by the Bharatiya Janatha Party.
Then a fifth suit was filed by the deity itself after the movement and surprisingly there were three plaintiffs for the same case. During this, the VHP launched the recline movement called the ‘karsevaks’ and started the construction of the temple. This resulted in the police firing of the ‘karsevaks’ in 1990 and due to this event, the BJP withdrew its support to the VP.Singh government. Meanwhile, the Allahabad High court transferred all the suits to itself. Many movements and activities regarding the possession of the property were carried on till the verdict of the Allahabad high court in 2010.
The High Court gave the judgment dividing the property among the three plaintiffs. All three parties went to the Supreme Court for further appeal. On February 8th 2018 the Supreme Court held that this is completely a land dispute case and will be dealt in a normal course[vi]. During this the people claimed that there was no evidence for the spot to be the birthplace of Lord Rama and the archeological survey disproved it by finding the remains of the temple’s existence.
Conclusion
With all this evidence the Supreme Court gave its final verdict on 9th November 2019 to hand over the land to the trust formed by the government to build the temple. The court also ordered the government to provide 5 acres of land to the Sunni Central Waqf Board for building their Mosque. After all these high pitched arguments for a 70-year-old case justice was finally given respecting all the religion.
[i] Ayodhya dispute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayodhya_dispute#cite_note-Gopal_et_al_1990-19 [ii]When did the dispute over Ram Janmabhoomi start, and why did it take so long for a resolution? https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/when-did-the-dispute-over-ram-janmabhoomi-start-and-why-did-it-take-so-long-for-a-resolution/article29933375.ece [iii] Ayodhya dispute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayodhya_dispute#cite_note-Gopal_et_al_1990-19 [iv] All you need to know about Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid case https://www.deccanherald.com/national/all-you-need-to-know-about-ram-mandir-babri-masjid-case-774675.html [v] When did the dispute over Ram Janmabhoomi start, and why did it take so long for a resolution? https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/when-did-the-dispute-over-ram-janmabhoomi-start-and-why-did-it-take-so-long-for-a-resolution/article29933375.ece [vi] Ram Mandir Issue https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/ram-mandir-issue
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